
Film critic Roger Ebert says computer programmers have captured his voice from movie commentary tracks so he can type what he wants to say and listeners hear a voice that sounds like him.
Ebert lost his ability to speak after surgery for cancer. He wrote in Sunday's Chicago Sun-Times that a Scottish company has helped him regain a voice his grandchildren can recognize.
Ebert recorded commentaries for DVD movies before he lost his voice. A Scottish company called CereProc blended digital recordings of Ebert speaking to make his text-to-audio voice.
The voice was heard predicting Oscar winners on a segment of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" that aired Tuesday.
He says he may be able to use the voice for radio and webcasts.
And speaking of the movies, more stars that you can shake a stick at will be presenters at Sunday's 82nd Academy Awards including, in no particular order, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jason Bateman, Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Ben Stiller, Kathy Bates, Barbra Streisand, Charlize Theron, Robert Downey Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, Queen Latifah, John Travolta, Gerard Butler, Bradley Cooper, Tom Ford, Jake Gyllenhaal, Chris Pine, Keanu Reeves, Ryan Reynolds and Sam Worthington, telecast producers Bill Mechanic and Adam Shankman have announced.
Contestants for "Dancing With the Stars" 10th season have been announced and the lineup is, well, a doozy. Those slated to trip the light fantastic on DWTS's upcoming season include Kate Gosselin, Pamela Anderson, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, Shannen Doherty, Aiden Turner, Erin Andrews, Niecy Nash, Chad Ochocinco, Olympic gold medal figure skater Evan Lysacek, Nicole Scherzinger and the most recent "Bachelor" Jake Pavelka.
Speaking of "The Bachelor," Jake Pavelka made his choice Monday night.
While it was Tenley Molzahn, 25, whom "The Bachelor's" family thought fit right into their tight-knit dynamic, the rumor mill was right.
Pavelka is engaged to Vienna Giraldi, 23, after popping the question with a Neil Lane-designed princess-cut diamond during the final rose ceremony, which aired Monday night.
Take away the psychology of the whole thing, the circumstances under which Jake and Vienna met, and you've still got yourself a lovely proposal.
"Vienna, I love you with everything I have," Jake said as he got down on one knee before her. "Will you marry me?"
And Vienna, who apparently knew she deserved this moment all along, could only cry and whisper, "Oh my God, oh my God ... Yes."
Tiger Woods has returned to his home in Florida after a week of family counseling in Arizona, according to a source cited by CNN.
The golfer is reportedly working out and preparing for his return to golf. In a televised statement on Feb. 19, his first public appearance since the November car accident that ultimately lead to the revelation of his involvement in numerous extramarital affairs, Woods said he would eventually golf again but would not specify a timetable, saying only that he has not ruled out this year as a possibility. Last week, Gatorade announced that it is the latest company to end its endorsement ties with Woods.
Lil Wayne's sentencing has been postponed a second time due to a fire at the Manhattan courthouse where the hearing was to have taken place, EW.com reports. The rapper pleaded guilty to felony gun charges last fall in a case stemming from a July 2007 incident; he is expected to receive a one-year sentence. His sentencing was already postponed once last month so he could undergo dental surgery. A new date after this second delay has not yet been announced.
A representative for Chynna Phillips says the singer has checked out of an undisclosed facility where she was treated for anxiety.
Phillips entered the facility last month.
Her manager, Lizzie Grubman, says the 42-year-old Phillips successfully completed treatment and left the facility Friday. Grubman says Phillips "happily returned home" to celebrate her daughter Jamieson's 10th birthday with family and friends.
Phillips, of the pop group Wilson Phillips, is married to actor William Baldwin. They have three children.
She is the half-sister of former child actress Mackenzie Phillips, who claimed in a memoir last year that she had a decade-long sexual relationship with their father, pop star John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas.
The above may explain this.
The 18-year marriage between William Baldwin and Chynna Phillips almost came to an end last week when Phillips filed divorce papers, but within days, she changed her mind and withdrew the filing.
Baldwin, who is currently in New York filming "Gossip Girl," was reportedly stunned on Feb. 26 when his wife filed for divorce in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Phillips, however, changed her mind over the weekend, according to the New York Post.
"Chynna has gone under a lot of personal and professional stress. The divorce petition came after a long and emotional buildup. But once it was filed, she realized she didn't want to lose Billy and asked her lawyers to withdraw it," a source told the paper.
Lizzie Grubman, the couple's manager, told the Post that "every married couple has its up and downs, but they are two people who have been together for 18 years and are deeply in love. They will work through their personal issues and they are committed to staying together."
Mackenzie Carpenter's video program, "Omnivore," is available exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.